On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred And Nine

I returned to the mansion without any results. We had split up to investigate around the estate to see if we could catch wind of any Wild Hunt or other enemies that might have infiltrated the grounds. But of course there was nothing. The Wild Hunt is elusive and sneaky, and if they got away the Way-Wardens should still be looking, right?

“Lots of things don’t add up.” I muttered to myself as I took a seat at the table in the dining hall. Several of the maids were looking at me from the corner, waiting for orders, possibly, but I was too busy thinking. The atmosphere in the mansion has definitely changed. Initially when we came here, sure, the maids weren’t pleased at my presence, but from dealing with Risha and Velna I’m used to that. Still, after we had rescued Asha and her tree, continually pushing the Myconids back, the mansion changed. There was much more whispering in corners between the maids, strange looks I couldn’t interpret, and now this.

My suspicions were starting to solidify. The surging spikes of warning that my Foresight was constantly prodding me with was almost certainly referring to some disaster at the mansion. Of course, I wouldn’t be careless and I had got word out to anyone in the Material who might be vulnerable, but I was focusing most of my efforts here. As I was thinking about that, Shaeula entered, looking frustrated. She nodded to her maids, before stomping over and sitting down beside me, leaning in on me for comfort.

“No luck?” I said, and she snorted bitterly.

“There is not-not anything to find. Though sweeping the entire area is impossible. Even with my Mystic Eyes there is nothing to see.” She shook her head. “It does not-not add up anyway. The Wild Hunt would be unlikely to attack us here again after they lost a Barghest during their last infiltration.”

“I agree. Something definitely stinks here.” I stopped what I was about to say as the maids approached us, offering Shaeula a drink, which she waved away. As the maids retreated I lowered my voice, leaking a little wind energy of which I had masked the glow, to prevent my voice from being heard.

“Theoretically, if the Myconids were the danger and our constant raids provoked them into attacking the Seelie Court, how do you see it going for them?”

“Badly, I should say.” Shaeula sneered. “Those massive plant-beasts around the hill are problematic indeed, but the defences of the Seelie Court are not-not to be trifled with, even now. It would take them time to break the barrier, and we would wreak a frightful-frightful toll on them before they passed it, allowing time for the Way-Wardens to identify the threat and rally the Seelie Court armies. Invading their Territory around the Spring of Clear Reflections is one-one thing, but on our own Territory, fighting defensively? I would hope-hope we have countermeasures now, else-else the entire Seelie Court would be a corrupted, fungus-infested ruin, no?”

I nodded. Her thoughts were aligning with mine. “Besides.” I lowered my voice still further, leaning in close and whispering in her ear, my breath tickling her. “They’ve seen us come and go with impunity. They’d have to believe that others in the Fae might have such abilities too.” Once we defeat the Myconids and reclaim the Spring, obviously we’ll share the technology and techniques we’ve been using. That should be another boost to Shaeula’s position. “I don’t believe it’s that either. You must have noticed the change in the mansion staff. After all, you’ve known your maids for years, right?”

Even now they were watching us, and their expressions were alternating between blank masks and worried gazes. I had been used to their anger and disgust for me before, even if I didn’t quite understand it or feel it was warranted, but now some of those same troubled gazes were directed at Shaeula herself, which didn’t fit the pattern. What’s even stranger is that some of the maids like Velna are starting to attract the same looks, and seem isolated, out of place. It’s almost as if…

“Their behaviour is indeed strange, but is that not-not due to their dislike of you, Akio? Really, I am rather inclined to dismiss them all anyway after this. It is a sad-sad day when Hyacinth is a more preferable maid to my childhood ones. I must confess that since I spent time away from them and their stifling urging to be more proud, more regal, I have discovered I much-much prefer freedom.”

“I think there’s more to it than that. But yeah, I guess you don’t pay too much attention to your servants ordinarily, do you?”

“Maids are supposed to be unobtrusive, just there should I need-need anything. On this too I suppose they fail. They should not-not have filled my head with nonsense when I was younger, even if it was out of compassion.”

Compassion, huh? “Excuse me if I’m being paranoid, but…” with that I focused and my Eye shone amber as I gazed upon the maids. No, they are both weaselkin maids, and their names seem to check out too. Nothing suspicious there, it seems.

“Fine. We need to stay alert, but we can’t let our suspicions run away with us. Grulgor is useless for the experiments, so we can set him to patrolling the grounds surrounding the mansion. I’m sure he’d be eager enough to crush any enemies lurking about the place.”

With that decided, we waited for Ixitt and Hyacinth to return too, from their own patrols. As expected they had found little of interest, although Hyacinth was looking a bit perturbed. Pulling her into a corner, she giggled at me, asking if I was ready to ravish her. First I checked nobody was nearby, before shaking my head, causing her to pout with disappointment.

“Not today.” I denied it. “No, I noticed you looking strange after you returned, but you said you hadn’t found any traces of enemies.”

“Hyacinth has nooot.” She declared. “But I still found something ooodd.”

“Odd, how so?” I asked, and she leaned in close, whispering in my ear similarly to how I had done with Shaeula earlier. Although I didn’t stick my tongue in. She’s a damn pervert. Oh well, not important right now.

“There have been tooo many coming and goooing from the mansion. There are only eight maids, and that annoooying butler, right? But when I searched, I cooould find traces of mooore!”

Huh? More, that could be important, but also… “While I’m curious about how you found out, firstly are you sure it wasn’t traces left by one of us? I suppose it could also be leftovers from our weaselkin when they were helping us set-up for the Tree rescue, or even some of Shaeraggo’s people. It’s not proof of anything. Hey, stop that! I’m grateful for your help but you are going too far!” Her tongue was sliding along my cheek now as she slobbered like an over-enthusiastic dog, and having her kiss me was way too far for some gratitude.

“Master is a tease!” She snickered, but did comply. “Hyacinth thought ooof that, I did. Nooo, the traces go in the other direction to the Ring Gate to yooour Territory, and it doooes not go towards the other ooone either.”

“I see. Suspicious, but not a lot to go on. Did you investigate further?”

“I did nooot have time. And I did not want to go alooone. If I was waylaid and ambushed, master would grieve, right? And Hyacinth is a good brownie, the best brownie, I will never let you dooown  like these worthless weasels! The dinner they were going to serve yesterday was all wrooong!”

“How so?” I remember the mess, it got everywhere. Seriously, it’s not like they would try and poison us… would they? No way. They are Shaeula’s maids, and have been for years. They wouldn’t do that. Me maybe, but if they did Shaeula would kill them…

“The sauce has been tooo bold, day after day!” Hyacinth shook her head. “Toooooo much fruit, totally smothers the taste of the dish. I dooo not get it, they managed to cook properly at first, but every day, the taste gets mooore overpowering, and master and mistress did nooot ask for that! Useless maids, Hyacinth wants to strangle them! But master says nooot to kill useless servants, sooo I will not.”

“Yeah, to be honest I’ve noticed more and more of the fruity yellow and orange sauce on every meal. I mean, yeah sure it does taste pretty good, but I agree it was a bit much. I thought it was a Fae thing. I did notice Shaeula has been eating less the last few meals…” So, not poison. I’m pretty certain Ether Healing would have alerted us to that anyway. So is it just an insult, or something more sinister? Hazing the mortal with Fae dishes? Seems a bit petty, but I wouldn’t put it past some of them…

“So we have some unexplained visitors, oddly over-spiced food and a terrible atmosphere, plus we know something bad is going to happen. Throw in the Myconids and Wild Hunt and we have quite the mess. I suppose one way to eliminate the issue would be to leave the mansion and stay away, see if that works, but then we’d fail taking out the Myconids. It hasn’t come to that yet. Oh well, I think I’ll do some of my own investigating while you practise making your spores lethal to the Myconids. Are you ready for that?”

“Ooof course! Hyacinth doesn’t get it, nooot well, but for master I will do anything! Besides, mistress prooomised…”

Yeah, but I didn’t. Still… the more time I spend with Hyacinth the more she grows on me. Damn, I’m still a sucker for a girl with a tragic past. “Fine.” As we walked towards the exit of the mansion we passed the door to the storage room where we kept our combat gear. “Well, we shouldn’t need it today, since Grulgor is patrolling the estate and you are immune to your own spores. Shaeula can use Ether Healing to aid you and operate the vacuum, she knows what we are aiming for. I have another task for Ixitt too…”

********

“Well, isn’t this interesting.” I had followed the directions Hyacinth had given me, and after passing through several leagues of trees deeper into the Seelie Court, I found something interesting. Amidst the trees was a small clearing, one that looked artificial, rather than natural. The trees around us were little more than stumps, and the grasses and flowers around had been trampled. There were strange energies in the air, specks of indigo light, and as I tried to draw then into my chakra network they passed through, congregating in my crown chakra. My Eye revealed them to be lost fragments of spatial element, similar to the lanterns the Red Caps were using. I tried to use them to grasp the spatial element itself, but such dregs were sadly vastly insufficient.

Still, that’s quite telling isn’t it? If it was Shaeraggo or his people checking up on us, wouldn’t they be using the Ring Gate he set up? Is it the Wild Hunt after all? But that doesn’t make sense either. Hyacinth said there were people coming and going from here, which surely means either a maid or the butler. But I can’t see why or how they would be cooperating with the enemy. Hyacinth said she could use darkness element to pick up traces of unpleasant emotions that lingered after a person passed, and while she couldn’t pair it to a person, she could differentiate between them, so could work out rough numbers. It sure is a versatile element. No wonder I can’t learn it, I have no understanding of it at all. Eri really is lucky having an affinity, I guess.

“I suppose I should investigate.” I smiled, remembering a popular game series I had played a few years back. “At least there hasn’t been a murder yet and no two-tone bear popping out. I could sure use a Super High School-Level Detective about now, this isn’t my area of expertise. At least I have my Eye to cheat with…”

So, the clearing was clearly the site of some spatial distortion. If I had to guess I’d say it was the way that the Wild Hunt was cheating the Territory barrier and Fae Stones. After all, if they move here directly from elsewhere using a rip or fold in space, they never actually pass the barrier. Interesting. But how is less important right now than why.

Pulling out some of the trampled grasses revealed footprints, most of them small, and I used earth magic to harden the mud into solid rock, cutting them free. There were some others as well, larger and more bestial, and by the pattern of prints I judged that several of them were on four legs. Interesting, by the size of these paw-prints, there were two different creatures here as well. There also seems to be some dust…

Elementally rich ash – This ash and dust is expelled by the many volcanoes and fumaroles to the north of the Seelie Court. It can be used in crafting or a source of…

The rest of the information was worthless to me at the moment, but the dust itself was interesting. I spent a good hour searching the rest of the area, and as expected, once I moved a distance from the clearing, all traces of it disappeared. So it couldn’t have come in naturally. Whatever is on the other side of the spatial distortion is to the north then. The footprints also had varying levels of dust in them, indicating that this spot had been used several times. It was then I found a scattering of blood on some torn grasses, followed by signs of something heavy hitting the ground and being dragged off. After a while the trail disappeared, but there was two heavy depressions in the ground instead, as if something massive was standing there.

Fae blood – This is blood from a Fae creature, relatively fresh.

That wasn’t terribly helpful, but it was indicative someone was injured here or worse, and recently. There was no body, and the dragging stopped quickly, so either the person recovered and walked away, which there were no footprints to support, or the body vanished. Eaten, or… taken?

It looked like I had gleaned all I could from the suspicious area, so I returned to the mansion. My keen nose picked up a faint scent, probably the chemical that Ixitt had prepared for me, and using a little flame energy I channelled it near several doors, and the chemicals reacted to the heat, displaying the fingerprints of anyone who had touched them recently. Yeah, the store room where our gear is kept has been entered, and I know Shaeula told them this was off-limits. Our bedroom too. That’s more understandable, but even so…

I wiped the doorhandle to Shaeula’s room clean to hide my investigating, only to come face to face with Velna, looking at me with wide eyes. There was another maid, one of the mansions’ staff, further behind us, emerging out of one of the distant rooms. Crap, what did they see?

Before I could make excuses, Velna surprised me. She clutched her face and put on a tragic expression. “You wish me-me to service you, master? Since the princess is away, you wish to indulge with my body? How cruel, but…” she let out a long sigh, speaking abnormally loudly. “… I have no-no choice, the princess expects me to show you due respect.” She bit at her lip, tears forming, and stepped towards me. “Saeca, you carry on cleaning. I’ll… I’ll satisfy him so he doesn’t seek you out as well.”

What. The. Hell? For a moment I got the urge to retort that I had asked for no such thing, but I wasn’t an idiot. She must want to speak to me in private, though I wish she didn’t have to trash my reputation to do so. “Yes, well, I have to admit…” I draped an arm around her shoulder, and Velna flinched at my touch but held firm. “Perhaps a threesome would actually be rather amusing…” I committed to the ruse, and the other maid, Saeca, shook her head.

“I have-have to clean, I… farewell Velna, I pray to the moon your sacrifice is rewarded!” And with that she was off, so I pulled Velna into Shaeula’s room, slamming the door behind her and tossing her on the bed.

“Wait-wait!” Velna squeaked, afraid. “I was just using it to scare away Saeca, I wasn’t suggesting…” she blinked away tears. “If-if you must ravish me, toy with my body cruelly, at least-least hear me out first! Please, I worry for the princess…”

I sat down beside her on the bed. “Oh come on. Do I look like the sort of guy who would mess around with the servants? If I was I’d have been banging Hyacinth by now. You gave me a bit of a shock, but I quickly worked out your plan. I doubted very much you really wanted to seduce me, considering the contempt all you maids have for me.”

Relieved, Velna nodded. “It-it is… complicated. How could it not be?” she sniffed. Even so, she shuffled a bit away from me on the bed, keeping her distance. “Our sweet little princess. She was so-so cute when she was born, with her amber fur and eyes. Small too, compared to her powerful siblings. Like us all-all, I was so proud when I was chosen to serve and care for her as she grew up. She was such an inquisitive, curious child, she used to love watching her brothers and sisters as they trained, riding on the shoulders of Master Ulfuric. But-but life isn’t fair. The Seelie Court is a debauched one, but Fae supremacy is common.” She glared at me then. “Her mother is not Fae, but a foreign being from the land in which she now dwells. So her existence became a magnet for criticism, as a way-way to hurt her father and his influence. Prince Shaetanao is envied for being the Prince of the Beastkin and guardian of the Eastern Borders. His enemies would take any opportunity to replace him. So the princess was an easy tool to discredit him.” She bit her lips, eyes anguished. “So Risha and some of her other maids, like Saeca, they suggested we needed to teach the princess to be proud of herself, to show the world she was as good, no, better than anyone. Only then could she be happy!”

“It didn’t work though, did it? Instead you just taught her to be arrogant and selfish, to drive away those that genuinely cared about her. And worse, to aggravate and anger those who talked against her. More fuel for the fire, right? After all, arrogance and pride without the justification is simply unpleasant.”

“It should have worked, Risha said so-so.” Velna shook her head. “We all agreed. We just hated seeing the princess hear such slanders. I thought if she believed in herself she could shrug them off-off.”

“Well, that was never going to work. You’d have done better showing her gentle kindness, teaching her that people loved her despite the lies and whispers. But things are different now.”

“No, they are worse now!” Velna declared angrily. “Now not only is her mother not a Fae, her chosen husband is a mortal! She will be further hated, a laughing stock! You wonder why we hate you? How could we not-not?”

“Making the same mistake again, I see.” I sighed. “Think about it. When Shaeula triumphantly reclaims the Spring of Clear Reflections, you think a few slanders about her love-life can overturn that? What she needs is for those that love her to support her, and help her prove to the doubters and most of all herself, that she is not what they say, but has worth. Look, isn’t she happier now, here with me?”

“I can’t deny I’ve not seen-seen her in higher spirits since she was a child. She smiles again and doesn’t seem in such a hurry to prove herself. As for the Spring… we thought you mad, that she would surely die. But you venture in day after day and return, even saving a dryad, a feat worthy in its own-own right. I hate it, but I have to accept that the princess loves you.”

“Good. And I love her. So help me. The behaviour towards us you are all displaying is saddening her. She realises her past mistakes and wants to repair her behaviour and the strained relationships between you. But unless you meet her half-way, she can’t do that.”

“I know, I want things to be the way they were before her exile, before the whispers.” Vilna whispered.

“So, this can’t be why you sought me out. It’s about the changed atmosphere in here, right? We know something is going on, something dangerous. Someone has been slipping out of the mansion and meeting some enemies of the Fae. I’m not sure if it’s the Wild Hunt, but that’s my first guess. You noticed something was up, didn’t you?”

“They lied about the Warning Bell. And Klena has disappeared. Either her or I have been here the whole time, and neither of us heard the Bells. She lied, and Risha agreed with her when I asked her later. Now Risha is gone too, and I can’t find her either.”

“I see. That is suspicious. So, have you been in the room where we keep our protective gear? We told everyone to stay out, right?”

“No, I’ve not been in there…” she said slowly, eyes widening.

“All right. I’m sorry to do this to you, but we need to put on a bit of a show. Just bear with it.” I reached out and messed up her hair and fur, as well as disarraying her dress. I then pulled her up, and with lewd laughter I dragged her out of the door, pawing casually at her as we headed back towards the storeroom. Several maids peeked out at us, looking sympathetic, but every time I sensed them I pulled the shaking Velna close, touching her some more. As we reached the storeroom I grinned lewdly, before pulling open the door. “I can’t wait any longer. Let’s have some more fun.” I dragged her in, slamming the door behind us. Lights flickered to life and I released her, shaking my head. Well that pretty much sucked. “You can relax now. But I do need a witness. I’m going to check our gear. I get a bad feeling. And it isn’t just my Foresight.”

It didn’t take long to prove me right. As we inspected the rubber-style protective suits I found that cuts had been made to the insides very carefully. From the outside they looked undamaged, but any rapid movement would quickly cause them to tear clean through. My outfit was riddled with such damage.

“This doesn’t make any sense-sense!” Velna was crying. She’d had examined Shaeula’s suit, only to find the same sabotage. “Having you die-die, I can understand that.”

Wow, thanks! I’m really feeling the love right now. But I agree.

“But to sabotage the very items the princess needs to survive the danger is unthinkable!” She sobbed, emotion overwhelming her.

“Yeah, it does seem to go against the stated goal. It wouldn’t have worked though, not on us at least. Ixitt would definitely have been in trouble, Grulgor too probably.” Opening up the barrel of cream I could smell a faint foreign odour in it as well. If I wasn’t looking for it, it would be easy to overlook. “Pretty certain this has been ruined too.”

“So what do we do-do? This doesn’t make sense at all!”

“Sure, it doesn’t in isolation, but if we put everything together I’m starting to see a pattern. A quick question, if I may?”

She nodded, wiping her tears, so I asked her. “I am pretty certain that some maids have been travelling into the forest to meet with someone with spatial magic that has been avoiding the Fae Stones. I found unusual footprints and some blood. I had thought it possible someone had been killed there, but now… do you know about Shaeula’s Kin Restoration?”

Velna nodded. “The princess used to boast about her ability frequently, as it was proof-proof she was special. Everyone knew about it.”

“I thought so. In fact, I have my suspicions that is one reason her enemies hate her so. A skill like that, if Shaeula grew up to be powerful and respected, she’d able to use it to the fullest.” I shook my head, disappointed as pieces were starting to slot together in my head. “I guess Fae aren’t any better than mortals when it comes to treachery and betrayal. Stupidity neither. Shaeula could be the key to prosperity for the entire Seelie Court. Though I guess it would be hard to exploit, as Shaeula wouldn’t consider any kidnapper or enemy kin… not easily at least.” I shuddered at the thoughts I had. Really, with the right brainwashing techniques or by breaking her spirit, it could work. Though it seems Grulgor was sent to kill her. At least one enemy isn’t thinking that cruelly.

“I don’t know how much they know about her skill, but I’m guessing the other maid who was suspicious like you was lured away by the missing Risha. And I doubt the maid is dead, in case Shaeula considers her kin. That would be too much of a giveaway when her spirit-light appeared. They probably know about her Eyes too… damn.”

Velna seemed a touch relieved at my pronouncement. “But does that mean Risha is working with our enemies?”

“If only it was just her. I am suspicious of all the maids that encouraged Shaeula to behave badly from the very beginning. Sure, you agreed, but it wasn’t your idea, right?”

She nodded, horrified. “But that would mean…”

“Yeah, it means they can’t be trusted. One more question. Do you know anything about the mountains to the north of the Seelie Court? I found ash from there in the remains of the clearing.”

“The north? Duke Formor and his giants ward the north against our enemies, since the loss of Salamandrastrae and the northern forts.” She said slowly. “You don’t suggest…” her voice trailed off as she thought about it.

“Duke Formor huh? Wouldn’t be the first time, but this seems a bit clever for him alone, if you compare it to the plan with Grulgor. Still, if he guards a border, then getting in Wild Hunt or other enemies would be easy, I expect.” The clues are starting to come together, but next question is, what do we do about this?

“I think we need to confirm a few things. All we have is circumstantial evidence. But we do have some ways we can resolve this. But first we need to gather the others.” Foresight was buzzing now, and as I pulled together the clues, it rose in intensity. Yeah, the danger is here. I’m both relieved and afraid. At least with it in front of my eyes, I can deal with it…